3 signs that you’re an Appsterdammer

Let’s face it, if you’re reading this article it’s NOT about a recent sport score or who’s dating who in the celebrity gossip column. You’re here to seek out the truth and answer that burning question: “Am I an Appsterdammer?”

CAUTION: Finding out you’re an Appsterdammer may cause conditions of extreme temperature adjustments in your CPU, A heightened sense of update progress awareness and chronic beta registration-itis. It’s not easy for friends and family to accept but they’ll soon understand and appreciate your contribution. This list is not exhaustive, you’ll be surprised what other gifts an Appsterdammer possess. With that said, prepare for diagnoses.

1.) An app for EVERYTHING, and we mean EVERYTHING.

That’s right, if you’ve caught yourself being a consultant to the people who surround your everyday life by saying “There’s an app for that!” feverishly recommending the app that knows what aisle number the frozen pizzas are in or showing a parent an children’s app for teaching a child how long to brush their teeth. We have a solution for your everyday needs. Information is power and finding the information you need at that moment you need is a powerful thing. We love to help make lives simpler for someone we work with, live with, or hang-out with. Recommending an app is almost a salesman game offering a reason not to download that other company’s app because it lacks a feature this company has and does well. We appreciate app craftsmanship and know the moment we launch a particular service if we’re in for a great journey or erasing it a few minutes later.

2.) The Update Ninja

What is it about an app update alert that feels like Christmas Day gift unwrapping? Is it an long-awaited feature? Or a quick bug fix? To an Appsterdammer, an app update shows that the developers care about the quality of their product and customer satisfaction. The more updates the better. We follow dev blogs about the progress of an soon-to-be released update and leap at the first mention of an early beta test release we can sign up for. When an Appsterdammer unintentionally glances at a friend’s phone and notice 3,5, or 9 app updates you want to yell out: “Hey! Hurry up and update those apps, you’re missing out!” Not just for new features but updates host a number of benefits to the end-user, such as security improvements, quicker performance and more. Now, the hit update button and enjoy.

3.) App Hoarder

45, 73, 240? How many apps do you own? I know the term doesn’t sit well. But hoarding apps isn’t an issue like the people featured on those creepy hoarding shows. Appsterdammers find ourselves after downloading an app keeping it indefinitely knowing it will prove useful in the future. App hoarding has its drawbacks if you lack an organizational system when it comes to searching for the app. Yes, spotlight for iOS is a solution but our most natural process is to flick through the many pages of apps to find that ‘special one’. In some situations, a particular app might have been pulled from your apps marketplace due to a number of reasons, but you still retain a copy because it has that one killer feature you can’t find anywhere else. As far I’m concerned, keep as many apps your smart phone can handle. But maintain a folder/drawer system so you can simply navigate around your home screen without much hassle. It’s a thin line between being resourceful and having 10 fart sound effect apps or 5 Xmas apps in Spring. It’s quality over quantity on this one.

Finally admitting to yourself you’re an Appsterdammer is the first step to great things. Knowing there’s a community where you can grow and share your knowledge of app development is an even greater great thing. That’s why we would love to hear from you. Send us an email telling us your story or come by an upcoming Brew N’ Brew Session.

Randy Ellis is a public speaker and Ambassador for Appsterdam Chicago. With over 14 years of design experience including branding and marketing. He consults startups and existing businesses on how to increase their softwares effectiveness and identity in a competitive market.